


Thank you just isn't enough

by xxsatinangelxx



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 16:32:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6813250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xxsatinangelxx/pseuds/xxsatinangelxx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While sitting on the Sofa in John's home, after yet another close call, they finally say thank you to one another and even that didn't feel like enough to convey what they truly were trying to say. John/Harold</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thank you just isn't enough

Their partnership isn’t what you call conventional. They barely knew anything about one another except perhaps what information links directly to their work and perhaps the best way to describe their relationship is the way Harold likes to put it ‘They’re very private people’ and for the most part both of them despite little intrusions, understood the need for such privacy. 

The only thing that perhaps they kept to themselves in their relationship was The Machine’s existence. Not that knowing of the machines existence had any influence on their work apart from providing them with a starting point by the means of a social security number and putting them in danger from those in the government who might protect the machine from John and Harold. Ironic how things work out considering Harold is the one who build said machine. 

There was an unspoken trust between Harold and John however, neither was very good at seeing the other in danger and despite the nature of their work and their relationship, they both cared perhaps more than they should about their partner. Harold was always panicked and willing to go to lengths he hadn’t thought possible for John and the sake of their mission. As for John, well everyone who knew John knew the lengths he was willing to go to protect his friends.

“Harold” John spoke in his usual monotone, from where he laid on the sofa in the apartment that Harold had brought him for his birthday, a place that despite the thoughtfulness of the gesture, he was still struggling to call his own. John was covered in bruises, bumps and cuts that they both knew he’d been ignore in ways of pain by the time the sun rose in the New York skyline tomorrow. 

“John...are you—“ John cut him off before the question was even asked, he turned his head slightly to see his Billionaire friend sitting beside him, Bear curled up on the sofa beside him, neither caring that Bear was not meant to be in John’s building. 

“I’m fine Harold, Stop worrying so much” Harold breathed out through his nose before turned to look at his friend, who had only just been stitched up from yet another bullet wound. This one had been touch and go for a while and after saving Lionel’s life for what felt like the hundredth time since knowing him, John had asked that Harold drive him home, a request he was more than willing to forfill. 

When they arrived at the apartment building, Harold insisted that he help John up to is apartment and was surprised that John offered no resistance to his offer. Despite his surprise he had always known that the trust between them reached levels neither had experienced before because he'd always known that they filled holes in one another’s lives. Harold needed someone who was not only a confidant but someone who can do what he cannot, protect those he had once deemed irrelevant. 

As for John, Howard provided a steady reminder that life is precious and after all the suffering and killing he’s had to see or in fact inflicted himself, Harold not only gave him a purpose but also a way to redeem himself in some way, to do some good to hopefully restore parts of humanity that even John himself might have once thought lost and the more they worked together the more Harold started seeing signs of that. John was starting to let people like Agent Carter in, he was smiling at Harold’s jokes and the way he saw John interact with Bear brought a smile to his own face. 

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t do as you ask Mr. Reese, you’ve been shot before but…” He cut himself off, could he bear the thought of losing John? Of course not.

Not after all they’d been through, he needed John to get the job done, to save people or at least that’s what Harold constantly made himself believe. He was still in love with his fiancée despite their years apart, could he really be having romantic feelings for a man as closed off as John? A man who was still damaged by the killing of his ex-girlfriend and by all accounts the love of his life and by all accounts as straight as they come. 

“But this time I came closer than I would have liked to dying. I know” 

He offered gently, never making light or fun of the fact that Harold did in fact care, a trait that had been a challenge for John considering his old life of work. John had found it hard to trust anyone even those he served with to get a mission complete because they could just as easily get orders to eliminate him when the time seemed appropriate. So Harold was always amazed at how quickly he was able to trust him and from that trust came an understanding that his life meant something to his friend, so he never made light of it. 

The former CIA agent surprised his friend then by moving his head and resting it on the hackers shoulder. He knew John would be tried, but he hadn’t expected this. What part in their relationship outside of the occasional ‘life assuring’ touches had allowed John to be so comfortable with this? What was Harold meant to do? What could he do?

“Thank you Harold…” John spoke, his tone more groggy than monotone, his eyes now closed. 

“For what?” Harold asked out of curiosity. He had thought despite their many life and death situations that they were even in the sense that no more Thank you’s or apologies were necessary. 

“For saving my life earlier tonight and also for…” Harold waited anxiously for him to continue, only to find that John was sleeping silently on his shoulder. 

Harold whispered an order to Bear in Dutch, who responded straight away bringing the blanket from the bed in the corner of the room to Harold. Harold then using his spare arm to up pulled the blanket and wrapped it around both John and himself, he shuffled as quietly and as slowly as he could to get comfortable.

Once he was comfortable he allowed himself a moment to appreciate his friend, his appearance, his slightly grey hair that only seemed to add to the mystery. The way his body showed scars of gun shot wounds, knife wounds, torture wounds, all of which only made Harold respect and care for his friend more but more shocking to Harold was how angry the scars made him. Harold knew enough about John to trust that he's a good man. Harold trusted John's willingness to be a good man in the face of so much uncertainty and corruption in the world. A man who had retained his humanity while being put in some of the worst situations you can imagine and perhaps even some you can’t. 

Harold smiled to himself, reaching his hand over and crease his friend’s hand. A touch he would never allow himself while John was conscious. 

“Thank you John… for being my friend as well. You’ve been a reminder of what it’s like to have companionship again. I hadn’t realised how much I’d missed the small things such as inside jokes or sharing a drink after a long day” 

Neither of them knew what tomorrow was going to bring, whether the next bullet heading their way was going to be their last but both had an understanding that perhaps no one else in their tight circle would ever understand. Perhaps it’s that to the rest of the world, they’re dead, gone and buried. Perhaps it was the way Harold could look at John and convey so much his own voice could never betray and knew John was understanding every word. Perhaps it’s the way John would actually listen to Harold babble on about Code and despite his hesitation John actually learnt something. Whatever it was neither had much in the way of normal lives and knowing that tomorrow might in fact be their last, it left a habit of honesty between them when it came to the important things. 

John surprised his employer and friend once again by shuffling himself so that his head was resting on Harold lap instead of his shoulder, Bear’s head coming to rest beside Johns, just enough to protect both of his owners. 

Perhaps it was Bear breathing beside them or the soft hum of the fridge in the corner or even his imagination as his eyes finally slipped shut and he fell into the land of unconsciousness, but he could have sworn he heard John say

“You’re Welcome”


End file.
